ABOVE VIDEO: Seventy-five of the 81 passengers aboard a plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team were killed Tuesday when the aircraft crashed while on its way to the finals of a regional tournament, authorities in Colombia said.

(FOX NEWS) – Seventy-five of the 81 passengers aboard a plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team were killed Tuesday when the aircraft crashed while on its way to the finals of a regional tournament, authorities in Colombia said.

The chartered British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by LaMia, declared an emergency at 10 p.m. Monday because of an electrical failure, aviation officials said. The plane had departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and was carrying the Chapecoense soccer team to Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordova airport.

The southern Brazilian squad was set to play Wednesday in the first of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin. The tournament features some of the top soccer teams in South America.
“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio, later adding: “What was supposed to be a celebration has turned into a tragedy.”